About a month before the nationals last year the coach of one of the girls competing in for the title flew from interstate to watch me fight. he's her uncle so travelling to do that was perhaps a labour of love for him aswell as a coach doing his thing. I don't believe most coaches at least here are able to do this.

When I got to the nationals I sized up my opponents mentally myself but the coaches were too preoccupied with other things to notice anything of them. I fought a southpaw without any warning at all that she was one.

All I knew of her was what I'd sized up. I guessed that I had a reach advantage on her and I possibly did - but I had overemphasized that in my head so much that when i fought I kept firing from too far away. It ended up being more of a disadvantage than anything else.

I don't want to really know too much about my opponents because nothing will measure exactly how much longer my reach is better than feeling it in the first round. I don't want any other perceptions I have in my head from before messing with that.

What I think might be good though is if the coach knows a little about your opponents. Then he/she can use that to improve a few things and get you feeling really confident about the strengths you have which are most likely to be successful in the bout.